I'm sorry that I havn't written much lately. It's been packed at work, and in addition my small bout with a cold (or something) and trying to spend as much time with Robin as possible before I leave, hasn't left much time for other activities. So this might as well be my last post in some time.
Robin... You know what I'm going to write about, so don't read any more of it. It's not good for you.
In about 24 hours I'll be on my way to bonnie old Scotland. First off a week of sailing, that'll cost me dearly, mainly because we'll be visiting distilleries right and left (mainly on Islay and thereabouts). And since many of these distilleries offer self-bottles whiskies, it's an offer I can't refuse. So here's a small list of the offerings:
* Springbank - 1/2 bottle available at Springbank/Cadenhead stores in London, Campeltown, Cologne (Köln) and Edinburgh. Unknown cask-type. (£38.50)
* Bruichladdich - 0.5litre bottle at the distillery, Sherry- and Bourbon-cask. (£55 each, £100 for both)
* Arran - 1/1 bottle at the distillery. Unknown cask-type (£46.40)
* Aberlour - 1/1 bottle at Warehouse No.1, Sherry- and Bourbon-cask. (£50 each)
I'll try to pop in to a Webcafe somewhere and update the blog, but no promises.
You hear a lot about all the idiodic and moronic enquiries support-people get from users. A little known fact is that the people at the support-end can be just as stupid as the rest of us:
We've got a problem starting a program here at work after a minor crash. The program refuses flat-out to start, so therefore we sent off an e-mail to support. The answer was that we should:
1. Reboot (as if that hadn't been done five times)
2. Start the program and run the internal control-program. (eeeh... Wasn't the problem was that we couldn't start the program in the first place?)
I'll keep you posted if support comes up with more helpful hints.
Update: The problem is solved. Support sent over some diagnostic tools and we found the problem. Case closed
I seem to be coming down with something. My throat is sore, my sinuses are clogging up and my nose is in the preliminary stages of becoming runny. And me who's going dancing later today and off to Scotland in 5 days time.
Make it stop!
People can't really be this stupid, can they?
This story from Ananova:
Workers 'need help turning computers on'
One in seven workers need help turning their office computers on or off because of their dismal knowledge of new technology, according to a report.
Research showed that about a fifth of staff asked for help to save or print a document and could not create a table on their screens to make it easier to write data.
Firms were paying out an average of £49,000 a year for additional computer support because of the "skills shortfall" of their staff, it was claimed.
City & Guilds, which awards work-related qualifications, said its survey of 400 financial directors showed that employers were at their wits end because of the problem.
One in five firms admitted their workers only had basic computer skills, while some said employees had no information technology qualifications at all.
City & Guilds spokesman, Paul McCloskey,: "Sound IT skills have become a prerequisite in the modern workplace and it is essential that employers invest in suitable training for their staff to keep their skills updated."
It's not the newest joke around, but it still good.
Actual dialog of a former WordPerfect Customer Support employee:
"Ridge Hall, computer assistant; may I help you?"
"Yes, well, I'm having trouble with WordPerfect."
"What sort of trouble?"
"Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden the words went away."
"Went away?"
"They disappeared."
"Hmm. So what does your screen look like now?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"It's blank; it won't accept anything when I type."
"Are you still in WordPerfect, or did you get out?"
"How do I tell?"
"Can you see the C:\ prompt on the screen?"
"What's a sea-prompt?"
"Never mind. Can you move the cursor around on the screen?"
"There isn't any cursor. I told you, it won't accept anything I type."
"Does your monitor have a power indicator?"
"What's a monitor?"
"It's the thing with the screen on it that looks like a TV. Does it have a little light that tells you when it's on?"
"I don't know."
"Well, then look on the back of the monitor and find where the power cord goes into it. Can you see that?"
"Yes, I think so."
"Great! Follow the cord to the plug, and tell me if it's plugged into the wall."
"Yes, it is."
"When you were behind the monitor, did you notice that there were two cables plugged into the back of it, not just one?"
"No."
"Well, there are. I need you to look back there again and find the other cable."
"Okay, here it is."
"Follow it for me, and tell me if it's plugged securely into the back of your computer."
"I can't reach."
"Uh huh. Well, can you see if it is?"
"No."
"Even if you maybe put your knee on something and lean way over?"
"Oh, it's not because I don't have the right angle -- it's because it's dark."
"Dark?"
"Yes, the office light is off, and the only light I have is coming in from the window."
"Well, turn on the office light then."
"I can't."
"No? Why not?"
"Because there's a power outage."
"A power . . . a power outage? Aha! Okay, we've got it licked now. Do you still have the boxes and manuals and packing stuff your computer came in?"
"Well, yes, I keep them in the closet."
"Good! Go get them, and unplug your system and pack it up just like it was when you got it. Then take it back to the store you bought it from."
"Really? Is it that bad?"
"Yes, I'm afraid it is."
"Well, all right then, I suppose. What do I tell them?"
"Tell them you're too stupid to own a computer."
I've always ha a bit of a non-conformal hair growth on my body. My hair is quite white, so is the hair on my legs and arms - apart from patches on the wrists of both hands, where the hair is dark. When it comes to facial hair it's always been an equal split between the dark and the white hair, white above and dark below the chin. But now it seems the dark hair is move up my face.
I hadn't really noticed this before, but since it's been a couple of days since I last shaved it was very clear this morning. There are even one or two dark hair popping up on my upper lip too. The dividing line goes, as of this morning, on my bottom lip, with a few hairs of the 'wrong' colour scattered around the place.
An immensely house-proud Friday Five. Can't say I can relate much though.
1. What housekeeping chore(s) do you hate doing the most?
More or less the lot, to tell you the truth.
2. Are there any that you like or don't mind doing?
Don't actually like to do any of it. I will do it if I deem it necessary though.
3. Do you have a routine throughout the week or just clean as it's needed?
Things get cleaned when the need arises, e.g. when I'm out of clean plates, low on socks etc.
4. Do you have any odd cleaning/housekeeping quirks or rules?
Nothing odd. At least nothing I consider to be odd.
5. What was the last thing you cleaned?
Did two batches of laundry on Tuesday. Btw, they're still on the drying rack.
Maybe a bit late in the day tp write about such things, but my head is finally starting to clear up after last night's meeting at NMWL, with the following session at Cafe Sara's (with beer, red wine and enchiladas). And that's fine considering the fact that I'm off to the Belfry in a few hours.
But waking up... It's bloody nice to wake up beside someone. It makes the start of the day so much more pleasant, even when you both have splitting headaches. Only problem is that you eventually have to get up...
Cranial intruder: Boris Gardiner - "I wanna wake up with you"
Thort? Not in this neck of the woods. But what the hey, it's still Thursday.
1. If you emigrated to, let's say, Spain, with the intent of staying there, how long do you think it would be before you started speaking Spanish in the home?
Depends. If I were to live with someone native I would make the switch at once. If I was living with someone from "home" I would probably try to keep my native tounge as long as possible, but it would inevitably be diluted over time - and after a year or so Spanish would start creeping in to my everyday speech.
2. If you were magically named President of the country, under what circumstances would you consider it acceptible to lie to the public?
There is never an excuse for a public official to lie to the public. There may be time one could omit some parts and not reveal the whole truth, but that's it.
3. If you were completely deaf, except for one hour a week, what would you want to hear during that hour?
The sea.
Found this inkblot test through Robin's site
Martin, your subconscious mind is driven most by Self-protectionYou are emotionally reserved and private. You typically keep your cool during arguments and rarely reveal personal information that you later regret.
On the surface, you appear very serene. Inside however, you may sometimes feel detached or disconnected from the world around you. The upside of this is that you are not the sort of person to easily lose your temper. You think about things rationally rather than get swept up in emotions. You also remain calm in the toughest of situations.
Your psyche is very unique; the more you learn about it, the more you will understand who you really are.
So what's up today? Well, probably have to work a bit. But later there's a meeting at NMWL, and I'll be wearing my kilt for the first time in Norway.
Have to remeber to get in contact with Birgitta who wanted to join the NMWL. She was supposed to call me, but since I haven't got a phone at the time, that might be a tad difficult.
On that note, I've actually bought a new phone now - on a web auction, from a guy in Sogndal. He supposed to send it in the mail today, so hopefully I'll have it by the weekend.
It's going to be a late night, since we probably will end up at Cafe Sara as usual after the meeting. And maybe I'll get in a few hours sleep, before getting up again. And tomorrow's not going to be a much better day either. First work, then a pipe-course at work, off to The Belfry for the Thursday Quiz together with Robin and her mother.
I need coffee...
Addendum: Went off to get a new SIM-card for the phone I bought earlier.
Due to an American holiday Monday has been moved to Tuesday this week.
1. The North Carolina Press Photographers Association (NCPPA) recently took back a photographer's three awards when it was learned that he had digitally altered some photos. I use PhotoShop or other digital editing tools all the time on my photographs. I never thought that was wrong. Do you think it is "unethical" for newspaper photographers to use PhotoShop to alter the images they capture? Should journalists be held to a higher standard?
It's only unethical if they alter the contents of the picture and then try to pass it off as the genuine thing. Any picture should, in my opinion, be marked with some sort of text, like 'enhanced for quality'.
2. On the flip-side of journalistic integrity, several newspapers are choosing not to run the Sept. 7 edition of "Doonesbury" because it mentions masturbation. I just don't care for Doonesbury anymore, but it made me wonder how much progress we've really made as a society. Is masturbation a bad thing? Even in the times in which we live, is it something that can't be spoken of still? And just for grins, do you really believe people who say they've never done that?
Masturbation is not, and has never been, a bad thing. Some peoples attitude to masturbation on the other hand has been a very bad thing for ages. It seems to me that todays society is moving towards a time where there's less and less you can say without problems. There are probably one or two people in the world that hasn't masturbated, but most who say they haven't done it is probably lying.
To deny to run a cartoon because it mentions masturbation just proves the twisted morals some people have.
3. If you had the power to be the Webmaster Almighty, what one thing would you eliminate entirely from the World Wide Web?
If I only could do one thing, I would eradicate all pornography that's based on force and violence. That includes rape, child pornography and all kinds of porn that includes the molesting of other people and animals.
4.Did you grow up in the same town when you were young, or did your parents move around a lot? How do you think that impacted your life? Has it had any affects on your adult life?
Stayed in the same place for all my life until I was 23 years old. Think I would have liked to have moved around a bit, or at least stayed at other places for some time to help broaden my horizon. But I think staying in one place helped be to get a stable and safe base to build my life on.
5. Who deserves to be called a Liar to their face? What would you say to them to publicly humiliate them? ("Liar, liar, pants on fire..."
Anybody who lies deserves to be called liar to their face. People who lie in public, deserves to be humiliated by proving them wrong in public. A few people in who's been in the papers a lot lately springs to mind. Three of the gentlemen in question all have a lastname that starts with a 'B' (American, British and Italian).
6. How do you picture Heaven?
Can't say I belive in the concept. '
7. Who do you hope to meet in the afterlife?
If there was such a thing there are a lot of people I wouldn't mind spending time with. Such as Winston Churchill, Magnus Lagabøter, Sir Isaac Newton and Jules Verne just to mention a few.
For once when we've decided to spend some time apart to get some household-chores done, what arrives at my door? First it's the three box-sets of the first season of M.A.S.H., Futurama and The Simpsons (for £11.99-£14.99 each at Play.com. In addition the newest edition of Pondus arrived in the mail today, and at the store I found new albums of both Nemi and EON. So a quick dinner, and then off to work, right? Well, I'm sitting here blogging ain't I? But now I really have to get started, so I don't have to keep my neighbour awak with the washing-machine all night.
Smoking inside pubs, bars and restaurant will be illegal from next summer here in Norway, on the grounds second-hand smoke supposedly increases the possibilility of getting smoke-related illnesses by 10-30% (figures from the Norwegian Health and Social Affairsdirectorate, dept. for tobacco).
On that note there must be a law agains football coming, when it's proven that just watching it increases the to die from a heart attack. A recent Swiss study showed that deaths by heart attack increased by 60% during last years World Cup finals (telly audience). Doctors believe the risks may be even higher for fans who attend live matches.
To read the whole story, go to BBC News.
I've been accused of cheating for not writing a complete summary of the events over the weekend. But what is really the point, when Robin has such a detailed account of what happened.
Maybe I can come with a few additions then...
I've been accused of cheating for not writing a complete summary of the events over the weekend. But what is really the point, when Robin has such a detailed account of what happened.
Maybe I can come with a few additions then...
The drive up went without a hitch, when we finally got on the road. The car was delayed when a coworker had misunderstood, and belived I'd be driving up on Friday, not Thursday. But at halv past six I was at Robin's and a quarter of an hour late we were on our way. Thanks to very little traffic the drive only took six hours.
Friday was uneventful for most of it. Waking up, going down-town, coming back, reading (while Robin scanned slides), watching her parents eat and then off to Gaute's for dinner and drinks. Also attending was another friend of mine, Erik, and Gaute's sister, Torill, and Gisle, her husband, together with their son, Kristoffer. I always love seeing Gaute cook, he never more concentrated than when his cooking. Only thing is that he enjoys his portions a bit on the large side, so when the main course came on the table, it was a 250g (half a pund) of prime steak. Only one person managed to eat the lot.
Saturday started slow, with a leisurly breakfast and the local papers. A bit later we were on the road again. And some time later we were at my mothers house in the world renouned place of Knarrlagsund (btw. the house is called Vikvang - BayMeadow). Upon arriving we saw the kitchen-window was filled with curious faces (this being the first time and all). The rest of the day went like a dream. With my 22 month old nephew demanding attention if he was ignored for more than a few seconds at the time. Took Robin for a drive around the islands of Ulvøy (Woolf Island) and Fjellværøy (Mountain-Ram Island), with a stop over at the farm my late father was born on (Leirvika - Bay of Clay/Lerwick), where two of my aunts and uncles were at the time. Since there was time for coffee, we were treated with freshly brewed coffee and 'pletter'. By the time we got back, the pizza was in the oven and it was time for dinner. After that we just vegetated in front of the telly in eachothers arms, before heading to bed.
... getting up in the middle of the night to close the window, befor the floor was flooded with rain and snow - discovered the next day that it actually has been an ever so little snowstorm during night. There were still patches of snow in some places.
Waking up the next morning, and taking a walk in the neighbourhood. Getting served dinner at 1pm and then heading back home. I've driven that route a few times now, but never have I feelt so good upon arriving in Oslo somewhat 8 hours later. Could it have something to do with the fact that Robin was occasionally tickeled the back of my head, so that I better could relax, and therefore wasn't so beat when I got home? I think so.
The only thing that could have made the weekend better, was if it could have lasted longer...
I've never been much of a dancer. Mainly this has to do with the fact that I'm extremely shy about being out there, where people can see me. But I've always loved music, and my leg can't seem to be able to sit still when certain types of music are played. Folkmusic is one of these types, specially Celtic and Scandinavian. So when the opportunity to go with Robin to dance Scottish Country Dance with the Oslo Scottish Country Dance Group. We were really supposed to go last Monday, but were delayed at a whisky-tasting with Mrs. Rachel Barrie, Glenmorangie Plc.
But we came, we dance and will be returing next week. Next time I'll be wearing my kilt, too. Now if I only can remember to pick up proper dancingshoes while in Scotland, it will all go a bit easier.
Well, as promised there was to be a summary of the events happening over the weekend. But since I'm a bit strapped for time, I'll rather refer you to Robin's blog instead.
Enjoy.